5 ways to be invisible online

The NSA is reportedly tracking your activities on the Internet

Online, everyone’s an open book — but now the National Security Agency is also keeping tabs on consumers’ activities online. Users increasingly wear their hearts on their screens, but security experts say there are ways to minimize your Internet footprint.

Privacy settings clearly aren’t enough, judging from revelations on Wednesday that the National Security Agency has a top-secret program called “X-Keyscore” that collects nearly everything people do online, according to more documents released by The Guardian newspaper in London through former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. That potentially means that online chats or instant messages, emails and Web searches could all be available to the NSA’s surveillance program. This latest episode raises an important question for consumers: Can we maintain a healthy virtual lifestyle — interact with friends, buy products and visit our favorite sites — and still remain incognito? “The odds are against you as a consumer. Your online life is probably already compromised by spyware,” says Rick Dakin, CEO of IT security business Coalfire. Here are 5 ways to protect your online privacy.

Wear a virtual mask

Services like MaskMe, software released earlier this month by online privacy firm Abine, attaches to a Google Chrome or Firefox browser. It creates and manages disposable email addresses and generates secure passwords, and whenever you sign up for a website, MaskMe offers users the option to give out their real information or create a temporary “safe mask” that can’t be traced back to a user’s real email address and other contact details. For a fee of $5 per month, it will also provide temporary credit card numbers for making purchases online: The retailer won’t know who made the purchase, and the credit card company also won’t have access to what the consumer bought.

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Act like a corporation

VPNs or Virtual Privacy Networks provide virtual offices or desktops for companies, and typically require a token that looks like a key-ring but has a constantly changing secure code that must be inputted into a computer. “That would make it harder for people to snoop,” says Graham Cluley, a U.K.-based online security consultant. It helps protect the files on that computer from being accessed remotely or even physically if your computer is stolen. Companies like Cisco, RSA Security and Verisign have authentication services, but they can cost from $250 to $1,500 for a one-year contract. Plus, they’re not foolproof. RSA Security, which operates the widely used “SecurID” tokens said last year that intruders had breached its security systems; it subsequently replaced its tokens. “You should never share bank information unless you’re in a secure zone,” Dakin says.

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Be afraid, be very afraid

A good rule of thumb, say experts: Assume anything you post online or emailed is being read by a criminal. Be judicious about sharing personal information. (”I’m at the airport and ready for my two week holiday in the Maldives,” could act as a gold-embossed invitation to burglars; that is how the young burglars featured in the movie, “The Bling Ring,” targeted homes of celebrities like Paris Hilton). “People show off and want to boast about how happy they are,” Cluley says. “Tell you friends about your jaunt in Hawaii after you come back.” Cluley says one woman had $10,000 of goods stolen by a Facebook “friend” after she announced she was attending a concert. He says to post holiday pictures after the fact, don’t boast about new electronics — unless you trust your Facebook Friends 100%, and those who might have access to their accounts, too.

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Maximize privacy settings

Take time to change Web browser privacy settings: It’s time-consuming to individually tailor privacy settings for each friend, but it is worth it, security experts say. And take advantage of the “private” or “incognito” features of most browsers, which vastly restrict tracking. Web browser Firefox, for instance, has a “Do Not Track” option. Reputation cleanup sites like Reputation.com and RemoveYourName.com also claim to remove customers’ details from the world’s biggest direct marketing associations and data brokers. Facebook introduced lengthy privacy controls that allow users to select who among their Friends can view photographs or read their posts — without the social awkwardness of defriending them. The site also allows users to block their Facebook profile from being searched on the web. “You should do a regular audit of your privacy settings as these sites,” says Cluley, who recently closed his Facebook account for privacy reasons.

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Use multiple identities

Pseudonyms can help “segregate the real you from your virtual self,” Dakin says. Facebook’s official policy doesn’t allow people to set up an account under a false name, but with over 1 billion users, plenty still do it. “If I called myself Graham Cheese Sandwich, most people wouldn’t be able to find me,” Cluley says. Some use nom-de-plums to shield themselves from unwanted “friend requests” from high school frenemies. If it is too late to remove all those youthful indiscretions, experts say change your real name. Laws on name-changing vary from state-to-state, but it is a complicated and lengthy judicial procedure and — in New York — the name changes need to be published in a newspaper unless there is a risk to safety. Most states recommend enlisting the help of a lawyer. “It’s a last-resort,” Cluley says.

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